Container closure



Nov. 4, 1941.

R. BILLETER ET AL CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed Feb. 14, 1940 IHYEHT unsHUBERT BILLETER JHN M 'C-I'FFIH CE.. my*

HTTURHEH Pawnee Nov. 4, 194i 'uNiTEo sm'ras.` PATENT OFFICE CONTAINERCLOSURE Robert einem, Burlingame, and John w. Gimn,

' San Francisco, Calif.'

Application February 14, 1940, Serial No. 318,856 `l `2 Claims.

- to the use of a tear-strip formed on the side of a can.

A further object of the invention is t provide a can end which willprevent particles of metal or other foreign matter from entering thecontents of the can.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tear-strip opening canwherein the contents of the can will not be spilled d uring the openingoperation.

A further object of the invention is to produce va device of thischaracter which may be applied to any standard form of can or containerwith'- out materially altering its construction, and a device vwhich`may be incorporated in the construction of the completed can withoutadding materially to itsvcost.

A further object of the invention is to produce a-device of thischaracter which will not slow up production, and one which will conformto all standard sanitary regulations.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for guiding thetear-strip during the tearing operation.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description.

Inthe accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

Fig. 1 "is a top Vplan view of a can constructed.

in accordance with our invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the line2 2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig.V 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the tear-strip wound upon akey;

j Fig. 4. is a cross sectional view'taken on the arrows and on anenlarged scale; l

Fig. A5 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view, showing the free endof the tongue;

Fig 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view taken on the. line6-6 of Fig. 5;

Y line d-d of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the Fig. 8 is afragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale, showing thetear-strip removed;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of a modied form of key; and

' Fig. 10 is aplan view of the tear tongue.v

Containers, particularly cans -such as commonly employed in packingfruits and vegetables, consist of a metal tubular shell and a bottomportion to which is secured the top in any approved manner, usually by'seaming the top to the side wall of the container, These cans areusually opened by employing a can opener which cuts the metal on. thetop so as to give access to the interior of the can. This form ofopening permits chips of metal and other foreign substances to pass intothe can and thus contaminate the contents thereof. Some cans are openedby employing a tear-strip which is formed on the outer wall ofthecontainer. Such a tear-strip does not permit liquids to be packed forthe reason that the tear-strip must be an appreciable distance down fromthe top of the can, and too large an air space would be left in the can.This type of can is usuallyemployed for packing dried proclucts, such ascoffee, w erein` a second band is used within the can and extends abovewhere the tear-strip breaks olf.

Applicants have devised an end for a can, which end pieceV may beemployed with any standard form of can or container upon which the endmay be secured and employs in its construction a tear-strip which whenremoved permits the`end of the can to be lifted outwardly,

leaving the level of the contents slightly below the top of the can and,at the same time, preventingany metal Ichips from falling can.

In referring to the drawing wherein is shown a preferred embodiment ofour invention, we will assume lthat'ourv improved end has been attachedto an ordinary cylindrical tin can having a bot- Fig. is a crosssectional view taken on the line 'l-l of Fig. 6, looking in thedirection of the arrows:

tom therein and that the numeral 5 designates the side wall of the can;and it is here understood that the drawing is greatly exaggerated inorder to illustrate the principle involved and that, in reality, thecan, being made of thin sheet metal. commonly employed in tin cans,would have quite a different appearance.

Our closure consists of a blank drawn so as toprovide a depresseddisc-like portion 6 surrounded by an annular wall l and having a fiange8, which is seamed to the side wall of the can as illustrated in Fig. 2.'In this figure, it will be noted that this annular ywall l telescopesinto into the through this slot the reduced end I3 of the tongue I4 ispassed so as to lie outside the periphery of the telescoping portion,while the Wide portion I6 of the tongue lies adjacent the innerperiphery of the telescoping portion or annular wall 1. Solder I1 issweated into the slot I2 so as to secure the end I3 of the tongue, sealthev slot, and Vsecure a portion of the inner end of thev tongue, thepurpose of which will be later seen.

Referring to Fig. 6, it will be now noted that 'the wide portion I6 ofthe tongue overlies the upper scoring. This feature permits the beadingchuck and roller to pass over the tongue without any danger of breakingthe scoring in the sealing operation.

In use, a forked key I8 is preferably employed, which 'key is positionedon top of the can, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the said key engaging theend of the tongue. By a tearing action the tongue is pulled away fromits rst soldered engagement, and then the tear-strip follows until thekey has made a complete revolution of the top of the canhwinding thetear-strip thereon, as illustrated in Figs. 3. and 4. As the key and thetear-strip contact the end of the can, it will be apparent that a veryeven Winding of the tear-strip on the` key will result, and, ac-

cordingly, a much better opening of the can repletely from around thecan, a small/portion of' the solder will still `hold the tear-strip tothe `that various changes relative to the material,

size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoinedclaims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In a closure for a container, an end piece having a depressed portionteiescoping into the end of the container, the telescoped portion beingscored on its inner periphery to form a tear-strip, said tear-striphaving an opening formed therethrough, and a tongue of substantially thesame width as the tear strip extending through said opening, the portionof said tongue lying within said depressed portion being wider than theportion lying outside said depressed portion and extending above the topedge of the tear-strip and overlying the scoring of the tear-stripnearest the end of the container.

2. In a closure for a container, an end piece having a depressed portiontelescoping into the end of the container, said telescoped portion beingscored on its inner periphery to form a tear-strip, said tear-striphaving an opening formed therethrough, a tongue of substantially thesame width as the tear-strip extending through said opening. the portionof said tongue lying within said depressed portion being wider than theportion lying outside said 4depressed portion, and extending above ythetop edge of the tear-strip and overlying the scoring of the tearstripnearest the end ofthe container.

ROBERT BmLE'rER. JOHN w. einem'.`

